Here There and Everywhere

Lots of exciting news to share with you! On Wednesday, by God’s grace 1,027 bags were distributed!! The grateful recipients of our labor bore mile-wide smiles, while some had looks of disbelief as we handed out winter bags to them. If you haven’t been on a distribution this (or a previous) year, please DO try as you’ll be blessed beyond measure as you come face to face with our needy brothers and sisters. You’ll never be the same after the experience ~ but don’t just take my word for it ~ come out with us to find out for yourself!

We have had a request to serve the TCN workers at Al Jahra Hospital. A date for that distribution will be forthcoming.

Rumaithiya street cleaners (all 120 of them) received a winter bag on Saturday. Today 250 street cleaners for Salmiya area received their winter bags; and tomorrow, by God’s grace the Salwa cleaners (150) will receive theirs! OH wishes to provide the same for as many neighborhood cleaning crews as possible, SO if you can find out where the buses load and unload for your area we’ll organize a distribution for them.

Thank you to the Catholic Church in Kuwait City for a donation of KD 50 from their summer library proceeds ~ also, to the BLS for their donation of toiletries, which we’ll give to the Philippine Embassy very soon.

Your patronage to the following activities will add support to OH’s fundraising efforts:
· November 10th: Harvest Festival at N.E.C.K
· November 11th: Beauty Bazaar in Salwa
· November 16th: Fall Bazaar in Mubarak Al Kabeer
· November 17th: KTAA Bazaar @ the Dar Al Cid
· December 4th: BLS Bazaar @ Al Hashemi (SAS Hotel)
· December 8th: AWL Charity Bazaar

For more details on exact location and timings, please contact Becky & Chelly on ophopevolunteer@yahoo.com

OH’s 2nd packing of 1,200 winter bags commenced last Friday. Called Student Day we were assisted by scout troops, the ASK National Honor Society, and many other students of varying ages and backgrounds. What an awesome sight to see our children knee-deep in charity work. My hope is that their experience will be remembered (and carried out) for a lifetime! Thank you to everyone who participated!

Thanks also to the New English School teachers who spent their ½ day off on Wednesday to help load vehicles for our deliveries! While they could have spent the day doing something else they chose to spend their time helping us to help others! What a blessing!!

OH needs more volunteers to pack this Friday, November 9th at 3:30 PM. A small set-up team is also needed that day to arrive at 2:30 PM. 1,200 bags must be packed that day so we’ll need a lot of hands on deck! Please RSVP your commitment to Kathleen on ophopevolunteer@yahoo.com

Thanks to Barbara R. for hosting a very fun and successful Bunco fundraising event for us today! We raised KD 125 having fun and so can you! If you are interested in helping to raise much needed funds to cover the cost of our winter bags, please contact Chelly and/or Becky on ohq8fundraiser@yahoo.com. Simply gather your circle of friends for a quiz night, talent show, Bunco, dinner party, or whatever you wish! It gives your friends something fun to do, but moreover it helps us to help others!

Someone asked me a few days ago if I ever get discouraged by the enormity of our job in helping the poor living in Kuwait. The truth is ~ yes. When I am depending upon my own abilities to get the work done I feel very discouraged.

A wise young Australian man who was born without limbs said this, “The awesome thing about the power of God, is that if we want to do something for Him, instead of focusing on our capabilities, we should concentrate on our availability. Once we make ourselves available for God’s work, guess whose capabilities we rely on? GOD”